


Soft Touches and Nothing More

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Tournament (2009)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Cuddling, Sexual References, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 02:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12202020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Belle's had a rough date. Joseph is there to offer a friendly ear and possible something a bit more.





	Soft Touches and Nothing More

Joseph winced as Belle slammed the mop bucket against the floor again. The resounding clang was torture to a man with a hangover, but that was a pain he could deal with, he was far more worried about Belle’s foul mood. Belle was pure sunshine personified, true she could get very snippy with people who damaged the books in the little community library the church now offered, but that was the extent of her temper usually. 

As unpleasant as it was he forced himself to recall yesterday. It had been a bad day for him and he’d started on the whiskey early. Had he done or said anything to upset her? Damn it! He couldn’t remember. There was only on way to find out.

“Belle? Are you alright?”

The wet mop hit the floor with such force that the papers on his desk got splattered with sudsy water.

“I’m fine!”

“Really?”

Considering the glare he received that was a stupid thing to have said. He stammered for a moment trying to make a coherent apology, but before he could get the words out Belle dropped into the seat on the other side of his desk with a heart wrenching sigh.

“I’m sorry Joseph. I had a terrible date last night.”

A little used part of him rose up ready to beat the living snot out of the careless idiot who had hurt Belle. Joseph was not a violent man by any stretch of the imagination, but he would make life hell for this faceless date. The surge of anger surprised him and he took a deep breath before he spoke to ensure that no trace of it was present in his voice, the last thing he wanted was to upset Belle further.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She gave him a wobbly smile; “You don’t mind listening to me vent?”

He tapped a finger against his collar insert with a wry smile; “It’s in my job description Belle.”

That made her laugh; “I don’t need confession, but if you’re going heard about the date from Hell the least I can do is make you a cuppa first. Strong coffee?”

Belle had never enabled his alcoholism, he knew for a fact she poured his hidden bottles down the drain when she found them in the church, but she was gentle in helping him through the morning after the night before. No one brewed coffee like Belle, it was a panacea, a miracle in a cup.

“Oh yes please.”

That first sip of coffee was heaven, he could feel his hangover shrinking away from the caffeine. He gave Belle a happy smile and settled himself more comfortably in his chair.

“Okay Belle, dish the dirt.”

She giggled as she always did when he employed such phrases, but her brow creased into a frown as she started to tell her story.

“So last night was date three with Ryan.”

Joseph nodded gently; “Ryan, he’s Ruby’s friend?”

“Friend of a friend, we all went to school together, but moved in different circles. Any way we’ve been out to the movies and for drinks with the gang, but last night he suggested dinner. The nice little Italian just off the High Street. Their mushroom bruschetta is amazing. I hope I’m not barred after what happened.”

Joseph gulped his coffee and forced himself not to entertain thoughts of worst case scenarios, forming a preconception was not helpful; “What happened?”

“I ordered steak, you know how I love a good steak and as arrived Ryan eyed my plate and said he hoped that wouldn’t make me feel to bloated for sex later.”

Belle flopped back in her chair clearly reliving the annoyance of last night; “I told him there wasn’t going to be any sex and he got this smug look on his face and groped my leg under the table. Told me I didn’t have to play hard to get, told me he remembered all the wild stories about me in school and was looking forward to giving me some better ones to talk about. I shoved his hand away and told him plain and simple there would be no sex, that I wasn’t interested in sex with him or anyone.”

She heaved a sigh and toyed with her coffee cup; “I thought I had made it clear that we weren’t dating with a view to a sexual relationship, that we were spending time together as friends. Apparently, he had interpreted that as me playing coy since I work with the God Squad.”

Joseph smiled a little at Belle’s use of air quotes, she only did that when she was annoyed; “I’m going to guess that he didn’t apologise for his mistake?”

“Of course not! He managed to call me a frigid bitch and a cock tease in the same breath, asked me why I was dating at all if I wasn’t going to put out, and laughed in my face when I said I wanted to make friends. I walked out after that,” – Belle bit her bottom lip, - “And I dumped the water jug over his head first.”

Joseph sent up a quick prayer of contrition for his delight that this Ryan had been humiliated in public. Belle sighed; “I should go back and apologise to the staff, it wasn’t fair to leave them with a mess to clean up.”

“That’s a good idea, although having waited tables I’m willing to bet the staff enjoyed the show.”

Belle laughed, but still looked troubled.

“This has upset you more than just him being a jerk, hasn’t it?”

Belle drummed her fingers on the desktop as she gathered her thoughts; “I’m not ashamed of my past. I enjoyed sex, but now I’m not interested in it. In hindsight, I’m wondering how often I had sex just to cuddle afterwards. A good cuddle is more satisfying to me than an orgasm. I want to spend time with a person who I like, who doesn’t expect a foot rub to end in a blow job.”

She buried her face in her hands briefly; “Sorry Joseph, this is probably the last thing you want to listen to.”

Joseph was accustomed to hearing all manner of things in confession, so Belle’s words didn’t even raise a blush. 

“Belle it’s fine. You want comforting physical contact that is purely non-sexual. That’s a basic human need. We watch movies together, we can do that cuddling if you want.”

They usually sat at opposite ends of the sofa when they watched a movie, but if Belle needed a cuddle he could offer her that.

“You’re a priest, is that allowed?”

“I’m a priest not a statue. I’ve made a vow of chastity, that doesn’t prevent me hugging, doesn’t even ban foot rubs.”

Belle still looked unsure, his offer was making her uncomfortable; “It was just a suggestion, Belle.”

She got to her feet and for a terrible moment he wondered if he had ruined the best friendship he had.

“Stand up, please.”

He got to his feet and held himself very still as Belle moved to stand in front of him.

“A practise hug? See if this is something we’re both okay with?”

“Good idea.”

He opened his arms and let Belle step in towards him, she barely came up to his chin, her hair tickled his nose as he loosely wrapped his arms around her back. Belle hummed; “Okay this is nice, I was worried it would be weird, but it’s not at all.”

Joseph grinned and hugged her a bit tighter, only to panic when Belle suddenly yelp. He tried to pull away but her head twisted oddly and his wrist wouldn’t move properly.

“Joseph! Stop moving! My hair is caught on your watch!”

“Ah bugger! Sorry. Okay What shall I do?”

“Hang on. Stand Still.”

Belle gingerly turned on the spot, “Can you see to untangle us now.”

“Aye, here we go, oh sorry.”

He freed his watch with only one wince from Belle. She turned back around, rubbing her head, but smiling at him.

“Hugging is good, but I think I’ll tie my hair up next time.”

“Or I’ll just take my watch off.”

Belle grinned, “Or both, both is good.”

She glanced at the clock, “Nearly eleven, you’ve got Elizabeth coming in to talk about the music for Sunday.”

And just like that they slipped back into their daily routine. The only difference being when they watched ‘Passport to Pimlico’ that evening they cuddled up together on the sofa. Joseph forgot to take his watch off and it got caught in Belle’s hair again, but she didn’t mind.


End file.
